


An Act of Chivalry

by Ashleopard



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:11:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9061915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashleopard/pseuds/Ashleopard
Summary: After a late night of drinking to forget her woes, Korra helps a beautiful girl out of a sticky situation. Upon sustaining an injury in the act, she is invited to spend the night at her - Asami's - apartment, where she realizes that Asami is her soulmate. Modern AU; Soulmate Scar AU ~ when a person gets a scar, it turns white. When a person's soulmate gets a scar, they get a black tattoo of the same exact mark.





	

**Author's Note:**

> May not be my best work, but the idea was too cool to pass up! Happy Holidays to everyone - Christmas for me right now - but wherever you are and whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful new year!

"Last call!" 

Korra grumbled, glaring at the nearly empty beer glass in front of her. She didn't want to walk all the way up to the bar… but she did need to leave anyway. Maybe it was better this way. She'd already had her share for the night; it was a testament to the fact that she could hold her drinks that she hadn't gone from a little drunk to full on singing-the-national-anthem-standing-on-the-table drunk. However, given the current circumstances, she wished she had.

The waitress approached her table - a lovely older lady who had been trying all night to get Korra to eat something with her alcohol, to which Korra had responded each time that she was not hungry. "You leaving, dear?"

Korra blinked up at her, nodding solemnly. "I'm not that drunk," she muttered, standing up and pulling a 50 out of her pocket. She handed it to the waitress. "That should cover it. Keep the change."

"You won't be driving?"

"No," Korra assured her. "Even I'm not that reckless. Have a good night."

"Be careful."

Korra made her way easily towards the entrance, her mind relatively clear. _ I didn't drink nearly enough. _ The entire point was to get stupid drunk, and here she was, a few miles south of sober. _ Maybe I'll have Round Two at home. _

"Aw, c'mon, baby, don't be that way." The words sent an immediate shiver down Korra's spine. She turned, fearing to see someone trying to talk to her, only to realize to her sudden relief she wasn't the target. Instead it was a tall, beautiful girl with black hair and green eyes that seemed to be piercing daggers through the giant hunk that was leaning over her. "Sexy girl like you shouldn't be goin' home alone tonight, don't ya think?"

"She won't be." The decision was rash, but before Korra could even comprehend what she was doing, she'd slung her arm around the girl and pulled her into a protective side-hug. "Sorry, sweetie. I couldn't find your card - we'll have to call and ask tomorrow after they've cleaned."

"Oh, no," the girl shook her head. "I'll just call and cancel it. It's not worth the trouble. You ready to go?" The girl's arm wrapped around Korra's lower back; a new and exciting feeling. 

"More than ever." She glanced up at the man, who had backed off considerably. "I'm one step away from a reenactment of what happened at the company Christmas Party last year."

The girl's laughter came in soft, giggling ribbons. "You've always been a fun drunk." She leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Korra's cheek - the spot left a warm glow and a large smile. "Let's go." She relinquished Korra's grip and took her hand, leading her out of the bar. Korra followed, doing her best to contain her laughter. 

"Well, that went well."

The girl chuckled, letting go of Korra's hand. "Thank you. I was running out of excuses!"

"Let me guess," Korra said, putting her finger to her chin. "You tried to go to the bathroom three times, said you had plans, mentioned some sort of church or another, and tried to use the gay excuse."

The girl nodded. "But I think that last one left a lasting impression." They both laughed. "My name is Asami."

"Korra." Korra held out a hand. Asami shook it. "Do you have a ride home?"

Asami shook her head. "I'm walking - my apartment is only a few blocks away." 

Korra glanced back to where several people were exiting the bar. "Y'know, I was going to get a taxi home. Mind if I walk with you? I wouldn't put it past those thugs not to try and follow you."

"It would be a pleasure to walk with you. You seem like an interesting person." She took the lead. "But I'm not exactly helpless, I must warn you. I just didn't want to kneel his ass over the bar - it would've made a terrible mess for the workers."

Korra laughed, believing every word. "Speaking of such, what brings you to a bar at this hour? Surely you knew it'd be dangerous?"

Asami shrugged. "I don't know. Work's been stressing me out lately. I wanted to go for a walk, maybe get a drink. What about you?" She quirked her brow as she met Korra's eyes and Korra knew she must've noticed the general red, puffiness of her complexion. 

"Eh, bad breakup. You know how it goes. Screaming, crying," she motioned to the bar, "getting drunk."

"That's awful. Was it your..."

Korra shook her head. "I thought so for the longest time... I really did. But he… he met his soulmate. After six months of telling me it wouldn't matter… well, it doesn't matter now, I guess."

"Well, he sounds awful." Korra laughed, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "No, really. From what I've seen, you're a really nice, helpful person. Anyone willing to choose a soulmate they just met to a relationship they've had is out of their mind." She huffed. "I swear, some of that shit is so romanticized, y'know?"

"Thanks." Asami was right - the whole soulmate thing was… well, the idea was when a person got a scar, it would turn white, like a normal scar. However, when a person gets a scar, their soulmate gets the same scar, except it's black. Korra had lots of scars from years of sports and general rough play, though her soulmate didn't seem to be as reckless. Most of her scars were on her hands, but there was an odd one the right side of her stomach that seemed to be burn. "I used to think the same way."

"Well, you'll meet someone." Asami encouraged. Korra's smile wasn't as forced as she expected it to be. "Who knows? Maybe it'll even be your soulmate! Someone much better than… what was their name?"

"Mako."

"Much better than Mako! He sounds like a douche."

Korra laughed. "You're not entirely wrong. He was very..." She puffed out her chest and pouted her lip, very seriously. Asami laughed and Korra's composure broke. "Exactly like that!"

"I'm sure. You can't joke about things like that." Asami stopped walking, catching Korra off guard. She nearly fell as she turned to face her. _ Maybe I'm a little more drunk than I thought?  _ The beautiful woman dug in her pockets for a moment before pulling out a napkin and a pen. "We're at my building, but here's my number." She handed the crumpled napkin to Korra. "You seem like a good person to get to know. Text me sometime?"

Korra beamed. "Of course!" Asami laughed and Korra felt a blush spread across her cheeks. "I-I mean, yeah. Sure. Whatevs. See you later. Dog." 

Asami beamed at her. Korra felt a lot less embarrassed as she realized it was with fondness. "You're cute. I look forward to it. Thanks again!"

"Bye!" Korra was ecstatic. She turned on her heel and began strutting back towards the bar, smiling stupidly at the napkin.  _ She wrote a winky face next to her name! That has to be good. _

Something hit Korra's shoulder, nearly knocking her over. "Hey, watch-" she trailed off as she recognized Mr. Tall Dark and Creepy.  _ What's he doing? _

She didn't need an answer. A few of his friends must've followed them and were outside the building, blocking Asami from the door. The asshole stalked up to her, a wicked sneer on his face. "Well, well, Missy. Thought you could get away that easy?"

Korra turned around. Asami was stood in the center of the three, hand in her pocket, a sort of quiet resolve in her expression.  _ She must have pepper spray or something. _ "No means no, boys. Go home."

Disgusting laughter echoed through the empty street. "What are you and your little friend gonna do 'bout it?" He nodded towards Korra. She worked her hand into a tight fist, flexing her muscles in preparation for the now inevitable fight. She started approaching them. "Ask politely? Kind words don't go far here. We get what we want."

Asami made eye contact with Korra. Korra nodded in understanding. She crossed her arms, waiting.

"I'm giving you one last chance to leave."

Of course, he was having none of it. He tried to step in and grab Asami by the arm, but she was ready. However, instead of a spray of sorts, Korra was shocked as Asami pulled out her now gloved hand and administered a harsh shock straight to his bicep. The man went rigid then stepped back. Dazed, he fell to his knees, grasping at his burned arm. 

His friends lunged at Asami from behind, and that's when Korra decided to interfere. Years of training in every sport imaginable (some more than others) left her very capable of running in and delivering a swift kick to one man's shin, followed by a punch round the side of his head. "Ha! These pretty girls have a few tricks up their sleeves!" She turned to Asami, who had apparently knocked the second man to the ground without the glove. "Well, that was easy, don't ya think?"

Asami was beaming, looking at the one she'd just bested. "Like ripping off a band-aid. I say that we call that a- Korra!"

The warning came a second too late. Korra hadn't seen the creep recover to deliver the hit to her abdomen. A dull thud seemed to resound all the way to her head and she doubled over, clutching her stomach. A flash of electricity told her Asami had the situation under control, but it only offered a small bit of relief.

"Spirits, Korra! Here, let's get you upstairs. Come on, now." A small hand wrapped around Korra's back, urging her to follow Asami through the doors of the building, away from the men before they could get up for Round 3. Asami essentially had to force her to move and only paused once the elevator doors had closed. Her grip relaxed. "How bad is it?" 

The initial shock was gone, leaving Korra with an unpleasantly churning but otherwise dandy stomach. "Just a bruise," she assured her. "Winded me more than anything."

Asami raised her brow but said nothing. "Well, I don't think it's wise for either of us to leave tonight. May I insist you stay the night?"

Through the pain, Korra was able to muster a sly grin. "May I oblige without hesitation?"

"Then it's settled." The elevator dinged and the doors opened. With a gentle grip, Asami led Korra out. Almost able to stand on her own, Korra didn't need help walking, but also had no clue where Asami's apartment was. "Forgive me, I wasn't expecting company, so it's a bit of a mess." It was only a few doors down. She fumbled only for a second with the key before triumphantly opening the door. "Make yourself at home."

The apartment was nothing like Korra expected. When entering a beautiful woman's apartment, one may expect paintings; a comfy couch with elegant pillows; a computer desk with some papers in one corner. Instead… well, if it is true what people say and clutter equals intelligence, Korra could only figure that Asami was a fucking genius.

The living room part was very neat. A red couch and a large but simple television, parted by a clear coffee table. It was the room directly adjacent to the entrance that caught Korra's attention - mostly because of the child gates blocking the entrance. Inside was a mess. Bulletin boards hung wherever they could fit, pinned with papers of complicated illustrations that Korra could never dream up, let alone draw. A desk claimed one wall and a giant work bench the other, each filled with respective clutter: the desk being even more designs, the bench with little bits and pieces of stuff. There appeared to be a motor in the center of the floor, encircled by a sea of tools. The empty toolbox was on it's side in the far corner. Amongst all the chaos, Korra noticed the final detail that put the final piece in the puzzle: the Future Industries logo plastered to the wall, nearly covered by two bulletin boards. 

"Wait a second… are you Asami  _ Sato _ ?"

Korra's head snapped back to Asami just in time to see her blush. "Yeah. That room's really not guest appropriate, sorry." She shuffled over to shut the door. "Or cat appropriate," she teased, setting the gate aside, as it was no longer necessary. "But I like keeping the door open because it has terrible ventilation, especially when I'm trying to work with stuff out of the garage."

Korra blinked at her, temporarily forgetting the throbbing in her stomach. "Wait, are you telling me you come home from work at night to just... do more work?"

"It's not like that. Not anymore, at least." Asami led Korra past it to the couch. "You must know what happened and all with my father." Korra nodded - it had been all over the papers. "I'm in charge now. I don't exactly get to engineer these days, it's mostly paperwork. So, I come home and tinker. It relaxes me."

"That explains the really cool glove."

Asami seemed proud. "You noticed." She had Korra take a seat next to her. "Speaking of that, I'm going to get you some ice. Hold tight."

As she left, Korra relaxed back in her seat, doing her best to ignore the consistent pain. "Well, the good new is it probably won't scar, right? It's just a bruise. Besides, I think I've given my soulmate plenty to worry about for now!" 

Asami was laughing when she reentered the living room. "You think a little scar from a bar fight is bad? You couldn't imagine what I put my soulmate through! I have a burn scar."

Korra beamed, ready to combat whatever Asami had with her soulmate's, because surely nothing she had could be  _ that _ intense. "Oh yeah? How'd you manage that?"

Asami shrugged. "Arson. When I was a kid." She motioned to her right side, framing the area from the bottom of her hips to her upper rib cage. "From here to here, I have the strangest pattern of scars you've ever seen!"

Time seemed to pause on a heartbeat - for a single second, Korra allowed herself to wonder. _ No, it couldn't be. Lots of people have burns.  _ Besides, it was rather egotistical for her to even consider such a beautiful woman could be 'destined' for her. 

"My soulmate has a burn, I think. I don't know, I always thought there was something beautiful about it."

Asami nodded. "Like a phoenix, at least that's what my therapists said. What else are you going to tell a six year old kid?" She laughed, though it was a bit drier this time. "Of course, that was when I was worried about how ugly it was. Now I realize that it could've been so much worse. Worse burns in worse places… it could've been my face. I'm glad I was rescued when I was." She seemed to remember that she was holding an ice pack for Korra. She walked around the couch and handed it over, taking her seat. "But as weird as it looks, some of the lines follow my ribs, kinda like a skeleton. I always thought that part was pretty cool."

Korra swallowed, remembering inspecting the black tattoos on her own skin in the mirror; where they seemed to etch her ribs, and she could only imagine what her soulmate had gotten themself into. She glanced down at her hands, wondering if that was why they were painted in several lines across her palms and over the tops; from incidents in the garage.  _ Oh, Spirits. _

"Korra?"

Korra jumped. "Cool," she blurted, heart racing. "V-Very cool."

"You look odd." Asami leaned in to feel Korra's forehead and her stomach jumped to her throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she squeaked.

Asami narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I should take a closer look at it. Here, pull up your shirt. At least I can put some creme on it to help it heal faster." 

"You sure?"

Asami laughed. "I've dropped so many things on my toes that I have the producers of the shit on speed dial. Hold tight, it's in my study." 

As Asami ventured back to the closed door room, Korra tried to arrange herself on the couch; to find the least awkward way to have herself exposed like this _. C'mon Korra you're ripped as fuck, what are you afraid of? Besides the possibility that this is your soulmate is super small. You met her in a bar, for fuck's sake! _

When Asami returned, Korra was slouched so far down she was nearly buried in the cushions of the couch. Asami giggled, eyeing her curiously. "You comfortable?" She shook her head; Asami raised her brow. "Can't get up?" She nodded. "You must be some kind of drunk. Here, let me help you."

Once they had her sitting up straight, Asami pulled out a little tube of medication. "Alright, let me see it." She seemed very focused on unscrewing the bottle, so Korra took a moment to remind herself that she had nothing to worry about. Once again satisfied that she was hot as fuck, she pulled up the loose fabric to reveal the developing bruise right in the center of the stomach. "Ouch," Asami offered, squeezing a bit of the lotion onto her finger. "This'll help."

"If you say so."

The substance was cool and felt good, allowing Korra to relax. A few moments must've passed before she realized that Asami had stopped applying it and was staring at her abdomen in varying states of shock. Korra glanced down, realizing the scar from the surgery she'd had years previous was quite apparent, even if partially covered by the new bruise. She quickly pulled her shirt down.

"Sorry, Korra. I - uh - just thought I saw something." She shook her head, adjusting the collar of her shirt. As she tugged at it, Korra's eyes fluttered and caught the final piece of evidence she needed: a black tattoo just peeking from the upper side of her clavicle. 

"Don't worry. I'm about to do something that will make you completely forget that that ever happened."

"Wha-"

Before Asami could finish her question, Korra pulled her shirt up and over her head. Asami's vivid green eyes slowly peeled over her now bare torso - ghosting over the surgery scar again, to the less apparent scar on her left side from when she'd fallen into a sharp object on the soccer field. It was obvious that she recognized the burn tattoos on Korra's side when her eyes widened and she let out a small, breathless laugh. "Well, who would've thought." She spoke in barely more than a whisper. She followed the burn up past Korra's bra, to the jagged white mark on Korra's clavicle. "I always wondered what had happened here," she said, her finger gently grazing over it. "I must've been thirteen when it appeared."

Korra's stomach was churning - the recent hit it had taken not doing her any favors. For the last few minutes it had been flipping over, and now she felt the anxiety and excitement rising in her throat. Wait, no. That was much more than nerves. She barely was able to push Asami out of the way before she raced to the bathroom and shared the deepest, darkest pits of her stomach with the toilet.  

It only lasted a minute, thankfully. Out of fear of a follow up (or perhaps embarrassment) Korra stayed put, laying on the cool tile floor with one hand resting on her poor stomach. It had already been through so much.

"Feel better now?"

Korra glanced at Asami, then let her head fall back with a loud groan. "I drank on an empty stomach, followed it up with a fist fight, and threw up in the apartment of the beautiful woman who I just realized was my soulmate. How do you think I feel?"

Asami's laughter was a small relief. Korra's eyes were closed, but she heard the pads of Asami's feet clicking on tile, then a shuffling as she took a seat immediately to her right. "I brought you some water and plain bread that I strongly suggest you invest in." Korra squinted her eyes open, grateful for the amused smile.  _ Well, she's not entirely disgusted. _

"Thanks." She sat up, leaning against the bathtub for support. She took a big swig of the water to rinse her mouth and spat it into the toilet before relaxing, taking small sips of water with a nibble of the bread. "So, stellar first impression?"

Asami nodded. Korra was surprised when she realized it wasn't with sarcasm. "Yup. My soulmate helped me out of a bad situation and has the scars to show it." One of her hands rested over the bruise. Korra grinned sheepishly. "Then I helped tend to her wounds. It was very medieval and compelling. The stuff of fiction."

Korra laughed, but only for a moment. She didn't want to upset her stomach any more than it already was. "Sounds awfully romantic. If you want to see it that way, of course."

"Please. We both know I was already planning on asking you out. In fact, this changes nothing." Korra pouted; Asami rolled her eyes playfully. "What? As if you weren't going to say yes?"

"I was," Korra sighed, defeated. "I just wanted to put up a bit more of a chase first. Y'know, I  _ did _ just get out of a serious relationship. We don't want you to be the rebound."

"Alright." Asami removed her hand - the spot where it had been felt cold and disappointed. "I'll take my time, then. But all I'm saying is that if we do date there's a statistically strong chance of it working out."

Korra snorted. "You already know my opinion."

"Then it's settled. I'll ask you out someday." At Korra's big, sad eyes, she continued. "There's nothing like a good build up. But don't worry, it won't take more than a couple months."

"Months!" Korra groaned. At Asami's confident quirk, she nodded. "That'll do. But you gotta hurry. There's all kinds of people who are just lookin' for a piece of this." She flexed her biceps, which she realized must seem pretty silly as she was slouched against a bathtub, shirtless. "So, what're we gonna do in the meantime."

"Why don't you start by telling me about what happened there?" Her finger traced the scar once again, where it had left off. Korra could swear the flirtatious touch was going to drive her insane.

“That’s actually an awesome story! Alright, so it all starts with my friend Bolin.”


End file.
